


Giving Back

by bel_halliwell



Category: Prison Break
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 18:16:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17048201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bel_halliwell/pseuds/bel_halliwell
Summary: Sara's eyes narrow at her brother-in-law. "Lincoln," she says evenly, "what did you do?" He grins, and she decides she's happier not knowing.Michael was once offered the chance to have his tattoos of Fox River removed, and he took it. But what if he didn't? Sara certainly doesn't complain, neither do her mini-me's. Set six years after season five.





	Giving Back

“Michael? Honey, are you still working?”

Putting down his pencil, Michael turns to the doorway of his small office. His wife stands there, clad in a soft white robe. Wisps of hair fall from a messy bun, framing the tired features on her face. She meets his eyes, a hopeful glimmer in hers. “Coming to bed soon?” she asks him.

He steals a quick glance at the clock above his desk, and is momentarily shocked to see that the time is almost 2am. He looks back at the page spread before him, and nods. “I’m sorry Sara, I didn’t realize it was so late. I’ll come to bed now. I think I’m finished with this,” he tells her, gesturing to the page. “Want to take a look?”

Sara nods, and steps towards him. He reaches for her, and presses a soft kiss to her abdomen as she comes next to him. She absently brings a hand to the back of his neck, lightly tracing patterns into his warm skin as she takes a look at the design on the page.

The paper is filled with colored sketched designs for a treehouse. Every detail is perfect, from flower boxes in the window sills to a miniature welcome mat at the front door. Sara marvels at the beauty her husband has created with simply a pencil and paper, and at the lengths that Michael will go to make their daughters happy.

“Michael, it’s gorgeous,” she says after a few moments, and he internally flushes with pride. 

“Do you think the girls will like it?” he asks her, glancing at the bulletin board above his desk. Amongst the various family photos he has pinned there, is his favorite picture of their twin daughters, Katelyn and Erin. The two girls are bouncing mid-air on a trampoline, grins as bright as the sun and auburn hair streaming out behind them.

Sara grins. “Love, they’re going to adore it. I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to drag their mattresses out of their rooms so they can live in it. Are you sure you’ll be able to get it built in time for their birthday though?”

“Of course, it’s all planned out,” Michael reassures her. “Lincoln even cleaned out his garage for me so I can build it in there, so the girls won’t even see it til we give it to them.”

Sara shakes her head softly. “I can’t believe the girls are going to be five next month. And Mike’s already thirteen. Our boy will be in college before we know it.”

Michael grins, and presses another kiss to her stomach. He wraps both arms around her and pulls gently, twisting so that she sits on his lap. He tightens his grip slightly, and takes the opportunity to brush his lips over hers. “Sweetheart, don’t think about college quite yet, okay? At least wait for him to start high school before we worry about that.”

Sara nods, smiling wistfully, and Michael leans forward to kiss her again. He closes his eyes, relishing the feel of her lips against his. Even as time passes, pushing away the memories of those long years of being apart from her and Mike, he still finds himself appreciating every moment he gets with her. He doesn’t know how he got so lucky, several times over.

“Besides,” Michael adds with a grin, “we could always have one more.”

Sara pulls away with a gentle swat and a chuckle, then caresses his cheek. She smiles as he turns his head to press a soft kiss to her palm. “Bed?”

“Bed,” he agrees, and releases his hold on her. She stands, and pauses for him to do the same. She then slips her hand into his, as if she can’t bear to not have more than a few seconds of no skin contact, squeezing lightly. She flicks off the overhead light as they leave the office, leaving only the soft glow of the moonlight filtering through the windows to lead them up the stairs, past the bedrooms of their children, and into their room.

Michael strips off down to his boxers, and contemplates pulling on a pair of sweats. When he sees Sara is only wearing a tank and shorts under her robe, he decides to forgo the sweats. There’s nothing he loves more than feeling her smooth legs tangle with his, and within moments of climbing into bed, they gravitate to each other and fall asleep.

__________________

Morning arrives far too quickly. Sara blinks against the bright sunlight streaming into the room, regretting not taking the time to close the curtains the night before, and immediately notices the lack of warmth next to her. She glances over, and confirms her thoughts of being alone. Rolling over, she sees on her alarm clock that it’s only 6am, and sighs.

“Are you okay?” a voice comes from across the room, and she sees Michael standing in the doorway of their ensuite bathroom. He’s dressed in jeans and a grey sweater, and is holding a toothbrush. The love and concern on his face pulls a smile to Sara’s lips, and she sits up.

“I’m not, actually,” she tells him. “It’s six in the morning, and instead of having another hour of rest with my husband, I’m all alone.”

Michael grins, tossing the toothbrush on the vanity, and comes to the bed. “I can’t give you a whole hour,” he tells her as crawls over next to her. He pushes gently on her chest so she lays back down, and he gazes down at her with clear love in his eyes. “But would five more minutes be okay?”

“I’ll take it,” she tells him, and reaches a hand to his neck to pull him closer. They share several slow, languid kisses, hands gliding over smooth skin and legs rubbing.

Just as Michael warns her that he needs to stop before he won’t be able to, a knock comes at the door. Sara presses one more kiss to his lips, and sits back up. “Come in,” she calls, and the door swings open showing Mike, dressed up in his soccer uniform.

“Morning Dad, Mom,” he says cheerfully. “Dad, I’m ready to go.”

Michael nods. “Great, I just need to get my shoes on,” he replies. He swings his feet over the side of the bed, and bends down to put his shoes on.

“Why are you guys leaving so early?” Sara asks. “Mike, I didn’t think your game was until nine?”

“Yeah, but it’s an away game, remember? The field’s a good hour drive away,” he reminds her. “Plus, Uncle Linc wants to come and said he’d take us to breakfast too.”

“That’ll be nice,” she tells him with a smile. She gets out of bed, and goes to him to give him a hug. “Good luck with your game, I want to hear all about it when you get back home, okay?”

Mike agrees, hugging back. She pulls away, as her husband reaches her. He presses a soft kiss to her, lingering a moment too long and only pulls away at Mike’s exaggerated cough. “Love you,” he says softly. 

“I love you too. Be safe,” she tells him, and watches her husband and son leave. Yawning, she contemplates getting back into bed, but without Michael’s arms wrapped around her, she’d likely not fall asleep. Instead, she changes quickly into pants and a top, and heads down the hallway to her daughters’ room.

Peeking in, she sees that both girls are still fast asleep. Katelyn has an arm slung over Erin’s back, while Erin has fingers tangled in the fur of their dog Max, who obviously left Mike’s room when he woke and decided to snuggle with the girls. As Sara smiles at the sight, Max half opens an eye at her, watches for a moment, and closes it. She takes the hint, and tiptoes away.

___________________

Twenty minutes later the aroma of banana pancakes is wafting through the kitchen, and it only takes a few minutes before Sara hears the padding of feet on the staircase. “Good morning, my loves,” she calls to them, grinning as they enter the kitchen with rumpled hair. 

“Hi Mommy,” they reply simultaneously, smiling wide as the see the stack of pancakes on the counter.

Sara helps them into the tall chairs at the counter, and puts a pancake in front of each of them. Turning to the coffee maker, she shakes the last of the ground coffee into a filter and starts the machine, mentally adding more coffee to her shopping list.

“Where’s Daddy? And Mike?” Erins asks through a mouthful of pancake, and Sara raises an eyebrow. Erin swallows, mumbling an apology, and repeats her question.

“Daddy’s taking Mike to soccer this morning, so it’ll be just us girls,” she replies. “Is there anything you girls want to do today?”

She grins as she watches the two girls whisper to each other, marveling at the close bond they clearly have. “Can we go to the playground? And bake cookies?” Katelyn asks.

“And go swimming?” adds Erin.

“Of course,” Sara tells them. “Although if we go swimming after lunch, then Daddy and Mike can swim with us. And maybe Uncle Linc and Aunt Sofia will come over as well.”

“Yeah!” the girls cheered together. Sara puts another pancake on each of their plates, and turns to pour her coffee. Despite waking so early, it was shaping up to be a nice day.

__________________

Michael opens the front door and is immediately greeted by the smell of freshly baked cookies. He grins at Mike, who drops his soccer bag at the foot of the stairs and hurries to the kitchen. By the time Michael has hung his keys on the hook, closed the door, and walked to the kitchen, Mike has already taken a bite of a cookie.

“Sara?” Michael calls as he snags a cookie for himself. They’re still warm, and the chocolate chips ooze as he takes a bite.

“Hi my loves,” Sara greets them as she enters the kitchen from the dining room. He can see past her shoulder that Katelyn and Erin are busily coloring at the table, and he heads in.

“Hi Daddy!” Erin squeals as she sees him. “We baked cookies!” 

“I see,” Michael replies with a grin. He holds up the one he took as proof. “They’re very good!”

“Mommy even let us make a peanut butter cookie for Max, he ate it in one bite!” Katelyn says. Michael chuckles at the smear of flour dusting her cheek. He drops a kiss onto each head - both with shiny, dark red hair like their mother’s - and returns to the kitchen. He slips his arms around Sara’s waist, and lightly kisses her on the cheek. She presses back into him, but keeps her attention on her son, who’s telling her all about his soccer game.

“And then,” Mike tells her as he takes one more cookie, “Oliver managed to score one more goal, so we ended up winning after all.”

“Sounds like a great game, bud,” she tells him. “I think your game next week is a home game, so we’ll all come watch, okay?”

Mike agrees, and heads out to shower. Sara, still ensconced in Michaels arms, turns around so she’s facing him, and nuzzles her face into his neck. He smells like cologne, and sun, and Michael, and she can’t help but press several kisses on his throat, grazing her teeth against his skin on the last kiss. She feels him swallow heavily, and grins.

“Tease,” he tells her softly. “How was your morning?”

“Great,” she replies, pulling away slightly so she can see his eyes. “The girls wanted to go to the playground, and then when we got home, we baked cookies together. They’re also hoping to go swimming this afternoon too.”

Michael nods. “It’s really warm outside, swimming sounds great.” He kisses her once more, and pulls away to turn to the coffee machine. Sara bites her lip.

“I’m sorry love, there’s no coffee left,” she tells him. “I used the last of it today, and I was planning on getting more later this afternoon.”

“That’s okay,” Michael replies, and almost immediately lets out a yawn. He covers it quickly. 

“You didn’t get coffee while you were at breakfast?” Sara asks. Michael shook his head.

“No, they apparently had trouble with their supplier, and only had decaf,” he says. “And the only coffee place nearby was Starbucks, which you know I can’t stand.”

“Why don’t you go take a nap?” she asks.

“What, and miss seeing my gorgeous wife in a swimsuit?” Michael replies with mock horror. “Not a chance.”

“Well,” says Sara, smirking, “maybe it’ll mean you’ll come to bed earlier tonight?”

Michael grins. “Ah, you planned it on purpose,” he says, and wraps his arms around her. “We could go to bed right now, if you’d like?” he adds in a lower voice, winking.

“Oh sure, with all three kids wide awake, that’s a great idea,” Sara replies dryly. She shakes her head at him, but Michael can see the grin she’s trying - and failing - to repress.

“Hey, I’m just trying to make up for lost time here, okay?” Michael tells her, hands up in mock defence.

Sara has to smile at this, because if anything, he’s more than made up for those long years that they lost together, when she thought he was dead. If anything good had to come of their time apart, it was how they interacted with each other. Before Michael’s ‘death’, when they were on the run and tracking down Scylla, they were careful with each other. Touches and kisses were limited, especially in public, and too many things left unspoken. Now, they constantly sought each other out, their time filled with full conversations spoken only with their eyes and lingering touches. Neither of them had allowed a single day to pass, since they were reunited in Crete six years ago, without saying ‘I love you’ to the other.

“Well, you can ‘make up for lost time’ all you’d like tonight,” Sara tells him, and he chuckles at her air quotes. “Besides, Lincoln and Sofia will be over soon. I called Sofia while you guys were at soccer, they’re going to come swimming with us. The girls are really excited about it.”

“Sounds like fun,” Michael concedes. 

Sara offers him a flirty smile, and presses herself against him close. He can feel her heartbeat, a tango rhythm in sync with his own. “Not as much fun as I can offer you tonight,” she whispers, ending her words with the press of her lips against his throat. She pulls away from him, grinning as she watches him breathe heavily, and turns to start pulling out bread for sandwiches.

Michael marvels at how easily she can make him feel so many things, and how every day with her leaves him falling a little more in love with her. 

__________________

By the time Mike has come downstairs after showering, Sara and Michael have a platter of sandwiches made. They shepherd the kids outside so they can all eat together at the picnic table, but it’s not long before the three kids abandon the remains of their sandwiches and start running around with one of Mike’s soccer balls.

Sara and Michael move to the oversized porch swing, which gives them a perfect view of the kids. Michael kicks lazily at the ground, causing the swing to rock lighty, and he has to fight the urge to close his eyes. He really needs to remember that he’s not as spry as he used to be - and more sleep now is beyond necessary, especially trying to keep up with three active kids.

It’s not long before the chime of the doorbell rings, echoing through the house. “I’ll get it,” Sara says, pushing lightly on Michael’s chest to stop his half-hearted attempt at getting up. He doesn’t argue, and settles back down. She grins, and heads to the door. 

It’s Lincoln and Sofia, with swimming gear and drinks. Sara greets them with hugs, and leads the way to the yard. As soon as Katelyn and Erin see their uncle, they abandon the soccer game and run to him, squealing in glee.

“I don’t understand why they get so excited to see him every single time, it’s not like we didn’t just see him three days ago,” Michael mutters to Sara, mostly kidding.

“I’m sorry, are you jealous?” Lincoln asked as he easily swings both girls into the air. He twirls them around for a moment, swinging them towards Sofia so she can give each giggling girl a swift kiss on their cheeks, before depositing them back to the ground. 

“Are we going swimming now?” Katelyn asks, almost wriggling in excitement.

“You bet,” Sara answers her. “Inside though first, we need to go get bathing suits on.”

Michael and the kids head upstairs first, as Sara pulls a fresh stack of beach towels from the linen closet. She hands them to Sofia with a smile, and watches her in-laws step outside to the fenced pool area. Sara loves their pool; it’s full of Michael’s magic touch. He did design the entire house, but had added extra touches with the pool, like a graduated floor like a beach at one end, a waterfall at the other, and a slide jutting out over one side.

Heading upstairs, she passes Michael and Mike, both dressed in swimming trunks. She reminds Michael to get sunblock, and heads into the twins’ room to help them finish getting ready. The girls were almost set, just a couple twisted straps and the girls were soon running downstairs.

She ducks into her bedroom, pulling out her bathing suit and sunshawl. She’s heading back down within minutes, and sees Michael slathering Erin in sunblock, Sofia doing the same to Katelyn.

“Thanks,” Sara tells Sofia, as Lincoln comes over. He scoops up the twins, one under each arm, and runs charging into the water. Mike follows along at a run, shouting a loud war whoop, and with a shake of her head and a grin, Sofia joins them at a slower walk.

“Here Sara, I’ll get your back,” Michael offers, holding up the sunblock. Sara smiles in appreciation and pulls her sunshawl off, and heads Michael draw in a quick breath.

No matter how many times he sees Sara, he’s always amazed. Her bathing suit, while a two piece, was still fairly modest, but she still has curves, and legs for days, and Michael doesn’t think he could ever get tired of looking at her.

“Michael. Focus,” Sara says with a laugh, snapping him out of his stare.

He grins sheepishly, and tries not to let his mind wander while he rubs the cream into her soft skin, careful to not miss any spaces where her pale skin would burn in the summer sun. 

Sara, on the other hand, closes her eyes, enjoying the sensations. When he finishes, she takes the sunblock from him and returns the favor, this time being careful to not get distracted by the intricate inkwork on his shoulders and back that she usually, at night before they go to sleep, spends time gliding her fingers over, tracing lines and arcs.

The impatient calls from the three kids in the water quickens her pace. She finishes, leaning down to put the bottle on the deck chair, and suddenly feels an arm snaking around the curve of her waist, another sliding under her legs to scoop her up.

“Michael, no!” she shrieks, to the delight of her children. Michael grins wickedly, and jumps into the pool, arms tightening around her as they hit the cool water.

“You’re lucky I love you,” she tells him when they resurface, and tries to splash him. The wave of water hits Sofia, who was floating behind Michael. She shrieks and sends a spray of water right back. The next several minutes are spent on an epic water fight, with the three kids, Sara, and Lincoln against Michael and Sofia.

__________________

Once she notices her fingers getting shriveled, Sara decides she’s had enough time in the water. After toweling off, she heads inside for a pitcher of iced tea for her and the kids, and the bottles of beer that Lincoln brought over - something that had become standard since Michael’s return, as he refused to keep alcohol in the house out of respect for Sara. She’d tried to convince him it wasn’t necessary - Jacob had never been that considerate - but Michael insisted, and she had to appreciate how much he cared. From then on, anytime the brothers would get together, Lincoln would bring the alcohol, and refuse any money - he called it his ‘get out of jail free tax’.

Sara brought the drinks outside, placing them on the table next to her deck chair, and poured a glass of iced tea for herself. As she did, Lincoln hauled himself out of the water, and she handed a sweating beer bottle to him. He sat next to her, clinking the neck of the bottle against her glass.

They sit in comfortable silence, watching their family in the water. Michael is lifting Katelyn high out of the water, so she can catch the large beach ball that Mike had thrown from the other side of the water. Next to him, Sofia floats with Erin, both giggling as they let their toes dip under the stream of the waterfall. 

“Never would have thought, huh?” Lincoln comments, and Sara doesn’t need him to elaborate. She understands completely. Years ago, thinking Michael was gone from her forever, and trying her best to not let her son see her grief - she never thought she could ever be so happy. Yet here they were, a complete family, with two more kids and and six years of happy memories. She didn’t think her heart could ever be big enough to hold this much love.

“Never,” Sara murmurs, and Lincoln slings an arm around her for a brief side-hug, before pulling away. He gets up to retrieve the beach ball for Mike that landed outside the pool in the bushes, and Sara manages to catch Michael’s eye.

I love you, he mouths to her, and she grins back at him. She mouths back the same, and he nods, blowing a kiss, then turning back to their daughter. 

__________________

The twins last another half hour in the pool, before coming to join Sara and Lincoln. Sara wraps towels around each of them, though it’s hardly necessary; the warm sun makes quick work of the water droplets on their skin. She heads inside and brings out watermelon slices, which proves to be enough of a lure to convince Mike to get out as well. The three kids giggle at each other as juice drips down their chins, Mike showing them how to shoot the seeds out through his teeth. But the sun is so warm, and the water so tempting, so there’s another round of swimming after that. 

Eventually, the sun starts sinking in the sky, and tummies start rumbling. They all head inside, and Lincoln offers to give the girls their bath. They squeal in glee, and run up the stairs ahead of him.

“Thanks Linc,” Sara tells him with a warm smile. She glances from him to Sofia. “Did you guys already have plans for dinner? Want to stay? We didn’t really plan anything, but I can go pick up some Chinese food?”

Sofia nods. “Sounds perfect, I’ll come with you.” Lincoln agrees, and then follows after the giggles floating down the stairs.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sara sees Michael yawn surreptitiously. “Would you mind ducking to the store with me too? We’re out of coffee, and apparently someone is struggling without it,” she asks Sofia, nodding towards Michael.

“Yeah, well it’s exhausting looking this good all the time,” Michael shoots back, smirking, and Sofia groans, giving her brother-in-law a good natured shove.

Sara steps away into the hall to call in their food order - something that she doesn’t need to check with the other adults about; they’ve spent so much time together over the past six years that it’s automatic to know each other’s preferences. As she hangs up the phone and takes her car keys off the hook by the door, Mike comes downstairs, dressed and dry.

“Where are you going?” he asks her.

“To the store, and to pick up Chinese food for dinner,” she replies, reaching out to smooth down the top of her hair.

He considers this for a moment. “Can the store be Target?” he asks. “I need a couple things for school, could I come with you?”

“Of course you can,” Sara tells him with a smile. She lets Michael know that Mike is coming with her, and she, Mike, and Sofia head out to the car.

__________________

It’s a good half hour later when Lincoln and the twins finally come back downstairs. Lincoln’s hand may have accidentally slipped while adding the bubble bath soap to the water, but the girls definitely weren’t complaining. He settled them at the dining room again to finish their pictures from earlier, then starts wandering through the house to find his brother. He assumes that Michael’s in his office, but spies him on the couch.

Michael had finally succumbed to his exhaustion of little sleep, and had fallen asleep on the couch. He hadn’t even gotten changed out of his swimming trunks, and was facedown on the couch, tiny snores coming from his mouth.

Lincoln stares at his brother’s tattoos on his back for a moment, before suddenly grinning. He hurries back to the dining room, interrupting the girls chatter about their pictures.

“Kate, Erin,” he whispers conspiratorially. “Interested in a new art project?”

The girls grin. “What kind of art project?” Katelyn asks him.

Lincoln grins even wider. “It’s an extra special one, but you’ll need to be completely quiet, okay?” he tells them, and they eagerly nod. “Grab your markers, and follow me.”

He starts exaggeratedly tiptoeing out of the room, hushed giggles and the clink of markers tapping against each other following him. He leads them to Michael, and gestures for Erin to hand him a purple marker, which she does.

He uncaps the marker, presses a finger to his lips to remind them to be quiet, and draws a long purple streak along one of the inked lines on Michael’s back. Michael doesn’t even flinch, well and truly asleep.

Katelyn’s mouth drops open, in shock. “But won’t Daddy get mad at us?” she whispers to her uncle, biting her lip.

He shakes his head reassuringly. “Nope, not at you two, at least,” he tells her. “Besides,” he adds, “your daddy did this to me when I was about Mike’s age. We’re just returning the favor, okay?”

At this, the girls grin. Erin gets into the spirit right away. She puts her handful of markers on the coffee table, selects a bright blue, and immediately starts coloring the wings of one of the angels. Seeing her sister do this, Katelyn chooses a red marker, and continues tracing the line that Lincoln started, following its curve around Michael’s shoulder blade and ending at the ink free, slightly scarred patch where Michael had been burned all those years ago in Fox River. She then switches to a pink marker, and starts coloring a triangular dress over one of the devils.

Erin switches to a bright orange, using that clear patch of skin to clumsily spell her name the way Mike had been teaching her. Then, seeing the work her sister had made to the devil, she reaches over and gives it a shock of orange hair.

Lincoln’s not exactly sure how Michael doesn’t wake up from any of it - they had let out more than a couple muffled giggles, and varying the pressure of the markers on his skin - but Lincoln definitely wasn’t complaining. His ears do prick though at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway, and quickly hurries the girls back to the dining room, grabbing the fistful of markers himself.

By the time Sara, Sofia, and Mike make it inside the house, carrying a grocery bag and several bags of Chinese food, Lincoln and the twins are sitting contritely at the dining room table, innocent expressions on their faces.

Sofia, knowing her husband all too well, narrows her eyes at Lincoln. “What have you three been up to while we were gone?” she asks them sternly, although she couldn’t quite hide her smile.

“Nothing,” the three of them chorus back, and Sara raises an eyebrow. “Where’s Michael?” she asks Lincoln, and the girls erupt into giggles.

“Uh, he’s asleep on the couch,” Lincoln replies. 

He shoots a wink at the girls, but not subtle enough for Sara to miss. She debates questioning him, but decides she’d rather not know. “Thanks for giving the girls a bath,” she tells him instead. “Did you use the whole bottle of bubbles again, or did you leave a little in the bottle this time?”

“Uh, you might need to add that to your shopping list,” he sheepishly tells her, but at least has the grace to look sheepish about it.

“Mom, are we about to eat? Or can I go put my school stuff away?” Mike asks Sara, gesturing to one of the bags on the counter. 

“Go ahead,” Sara tells him, brushing her fingers through his hair. “I need to wake Dad up anyway.”

Mike nods, removing the jar of coffee from the bag and setting it on the counter, and takes the rest of the stuff upstairs. Sara heads to the lounge room to wake Michael, but he meets her in the doorway. He looks a little groggy, but his face visibly brightens when he sees her, and she warms at this.

“Hi love,” she greets him softly, reaching up slightly to loop her arms around the back of his neck. “Have a nice rest?”

His hands automatically slide around her waist, and he presses a gentle kiss to her lips. “I think I feel even more tired, to be honest,” he admits, and she offers up a wry smile.

“It’s a good thing that you have a doctor on call then,” she tells him. “You’re being prescribed an early night’s sleep with your wife, does that sound okay?”

“Perfect,” he replies with a grin.

“Excellent,” she tells him. “Dinner’s ready, okay?”

He nods. “Let me just run upstairs and change into some actual clothes, and I’ll be right there.”

Sara sighs, bringing a hand down to glide down his chest, ghosting over a nipple and coming to rest on the hem of his board shorts. “If you must,” she says with a wink, and presses one more quick kiss to his lips. She then turns to head back to the kitchen, and he grins after her before hurrying upstairs.

“Where’s Daddy?” Erin immediately demands when Sara re-enters the dining room. Beside her, Katelyn is looking up at her, grinning expectantly.

“He’s gone upstairs to get changed, then he’ll be right down,” Sara replies. She frowns as identical expressions of disappointment spread across the girls’ faces. “Okay, what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Lincoln says hastily before either girl has a chance to speak. “Trust me, Sara, you’ll get a better laugh out of it if you don’t ask me. I’m sure, if you and Michael are still anything like you were every night in that damn warehouse, you’ll find out soon enough.”

Sara’s brown wrinkles, trying to remember what he’s talking about. She knows he’s referring to the time they spent living in the warehouse before she found out she was pregnant. She slept in the boat, most nights with Michael coming in to share the bed with her, and they’d usually find it too hard to resist each other, and…

Sara blushes, while Lincoln deflects the girls’ questions of “What warehouse? What was Mommy and Daddy like?” by whispering to them that they should let Mike in on the secret later. Sara shakes her head, going back to the decision that she definitely doesn’t want to know more, and focuses on helping Sofia open the containers of Chinese food.

__________________

The antics of Lincoln, Erin, and Katelyn, are soon forgotten about as the seven of them share the meal together. They fill up with Chinese food, but all still manage to find room for ice cream that Michael - now dressed in shorts and a button down shirt - managed to find in the freezer.

It’s not long after this that the girls start yawning, and Sara tells them it’s time for bed, realizing that it’s a solid hour after their usual bedtime - it’s already nearing Mike’s bedtime. She can tell the girls are tired because they hardly protest, and Lincoln and Sofia lead them upstairs to tuck them in, as Michael and Sara promise they’ll be up soon to kiss them goodnight.

Mike helps his parents clean up from dinner, and once his good deed is done, he heads to his bedroom, promising his parents he’ll go to sleep after half an hour of screen time.

“Alright, the girls are fast asleep,” Sofia says as she and Lincoln re-enter the kitchen. “Thanks for having us over this afternoon, and for dinner, it’s been fun.”

Sara hugs her, but over Sofia’s shoulder, she shoots Lincoln a raised eyebrow. He grins at her. 

When it’s his turn to hug her goodnight, he whispers in her ear, “Don’t let Michael shower until the girls see him in the morning, okay?”

He and Sofia are already out the door before Sara has processed what he told her, and she shakes her head after him

She turns to her husband, who closes the front door. “Want me to make you a cup of coffee?” she asks him.

“Nah, then I won’t sleep and my whole schedule will be thrown off,” he replies. “I’d rather just spend some time with my wife.”

“I can work with that,” Sara says.

They retreat to the lounge room, both taking a set on the couch. Sara wiggles slightly, extracting a marker from under her, and tosses it onto the coffee table. She then brings her legs up, and Michael tugs them onto his lap. She closes her eyes in relaxation as his fingers gently massage her feet, and he smiles as he watches her.

After several moments, his phone buzzes and he fishes it out of his pocket to check. “An email from Sucre,” he tells Sara as she opens her eyes to see. “Just checking in to say hi.” He resumes stroking her feet with one hand as the other navigates through his email.

“Tell him hi back, and he should come for a visit soon,” she says, and he nods, starting to tap out a reply. She reaches for the latest medical journal she had left on the coffee table, and they sit in comfortable silence for a half hour, broken only by a few soft sighs that escape her lips as his fingers press a particularly tight spot or graze over sensitive skin.

Michael eventually tucks his phone back in his pocket and returns his other hand to Sara’s feet. He glides his hands over the curve of her heel and up her muscular calves, feeling them flex slightly under his touch. He lightly grazes his nails all the way down to her toes, then starts the path upwards again. This time, he doesn’t stop at her calves, and leans forward slightly to slide his hands on her waist. He grips, pausing until she glances over the cover of her medical journal at him, and then swiftly tugs her forward onto his lap.

“Well hello, Mr Scofield,” she says with a smile, tossing the journal back to the coffee table. She loops her arms around his neck and pulls him closer for a soft kiss.

“Hello, Mrs Scofield,” he replies as she pulls away. “You know, I’m not really tired anymore.”

“Oh you’re not, huh?” she responds. She ghosts her lips over his, and presses them instead to his cheek, trailing a path to his ears where she nibbles lightly on his earlobe.

“No, I’m definitely not,” he says, voice husky. “And I think it’s time we head to bed.”

Sara grins. “So, you’re not tired, but you want to go to bed. I wonder what there is to do up there?” she ponders, and chuckles as he mock growls at her. They get up, Sara turning off the lights while Michael checks that the doors are locked, a habit he started his first night home six years ago. He then laces his fingers through hers as they make their way upstairs.

They poke their heads into Mike’s room as they pass, and see that he followed through with his promise of only half an hour of screen time. The lights are off, and he’s fast asleep in his bed, Max asleep at his feet. They check that the twins are sleeping soundly in their bedroom, before finally reaching their own room.

As soon as Michael shuts the door, Sara presses him against it, and kisses him hard on the mouth. He returns the kiss, bringing his arms around her waist to pull her even tighter against him, before guiding her backwards to their bed. The back of her knees hit the mattress and she sits, Michael leaning over her and reaching for the hem of her shirt. He tugs it over her head, and doesn’t even bother undoing the buttons on his own shirt before it’s off and sitting crumpled on the floor next to hers.

“In a hurry, are we?” she murmurs between kisses, and he pushes her back slightly. 

“Just a bit,” he replies. “You’ve been teasing me all day.”

“Glad you noticed,” she tells him, and tugs at his shorts.

He turns away momentarily to unzip them, and that’s when Sara sees the colorful designs on his back. Oh, that’s what Lincoln and the girls were up to, she realizes, and immediately bursts out laughing.

Michael, about to remove his shorts, pauses and turns to her. He stares at her, confused, as she collapses against the pillows, trying her best to suppress her laughter as to not wake the kids, but giggles slip out.

“Sara, what…?” he asks her, and she manages to curb her giggles as she takes in his flummoxed expression. Wordlessly, she pulls herself off the bed, and takes his hand to lead him to the bathroom. There, she turns the light on, and pushes gently on his shoulder for him to turn around.

He’s about to question her again, head twisting to look at her, when his eye catches a flash of pink in the mirror. It takes him a moment to realize that the flash of pink is coming from one of the devils’ tattooed on his back, and all he can do is gape as he takes in his reflection.

Sara, chuckling softly, has to give it to the girls - they really didn’t miss a spot, nor a single color. From bright swirls to carefully colored shapes, there’s not a square inch of skin that wasn’t touched by marker.

“I’m going to kill Linc,” Michael says, as he twists to see the entirety of his back. “I know this was his doing. I’ll actually kill him.”

“Oh come on, honey, see the bright side of it,” Sara tells him. “Your daughters are going to love you even more than they already do, you’ve got a whole coloring book on your skin for them to enjoy.”

Michael growls at her, and before she can protest, he scoops her up and takes her straight to their bed.

__________________

The next morning, Lincoln sits at his kitchen table with Sofia, each of them drinking coffee while they share sections of the Sunday paper. His phone buzzes, which he ignores at first, but finally reaches for it when a second buzz sounds.

His loud chuckle at the image that loads from Sara causes Sofia to lower her paper, peering expectantly at him. Still laughing, he shows her the photo that Sara’s texted him, of Michael’s shirtless back with two grinning redhead four year old girls hanging off him.

Sofia laughs as he taps out of the image and into the second text, this one from Michael. He grins as he reads the words ‘You’re dead, bro. I’m not against sending you back to prison.’

Lincoln taps out a reply - ‘Consider this payback, 35 years in the making’, and then pulls Sara’s text back up. ‘Thank you!!!!’ is his reply, and within a moment his phone buzzes with one last text from Sara. ‘No, Linc, thank YOU.’

__________________

Fin


End file.
